Nintendo’s Stock Plunges After They Admit ‘Pokemon Go’ May Not Catch Them Much Cash

The stock market is all about perception – if the public believes a company is doing things right, the actual dollars and cents don’t really matter. Just look at how much Twitter and other Internet companies that barely break even are worth for proof of that. Well, ever since Pokemon Go became one of the biggest gaming phenomenons in history, Nintendo has benefited in a huge way, with their stock more than doubling in price in July. It just makes sense – I mean, Pokemon Go is a Nintendo game, right?

Actually, it isn’t. Yes, Nintendo has always been the company most associated with Pokemon, but the franchise is actually the property of The Pokemon Company, which Nintendo only owns 32 percent of. The other two-thirds are owned by original Pokemon developer Game Freak, and Creatures, the company responsible for most Pokemon spin-off merchandise.

On top of that, Apple and Google take 30 percent of all ioS and Android apps, and Pokemon Go developer/publisher Niantic also gets 30 percent. So, in the end, Nintendo only nets about 10 percent of Pokemon Go‘s profits. Considering some predict that app could make up to a billion dollars a year, that’s still a lot of money, but not as much as many investors were expecting.